Performance evaluation of conventionally reinforced concrete (CRC) bridge superstructure elements with diagonal cracks is of interest to the bridge engineering community. Standardized methods to predict service-level stress magnitudes in cracked bridge girders under combined bending and shear forces are not available. An analysis procedure was developed to determine the response of CRC bridge girders with existing diagonal cracks. The method estimates the stirrup stress range without prior knowledge of the previous stirrup strain history. Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT), a sectional analysis procedure, is used in the current specifications to predict capacity of CRC and prestressed concrete beams and relies on equilibrium and compatibility conditions based on an initial uncracked section. In this research, the method was used to predict service-level performance for cracked sections. Effective response prediction of a previously cracked beam was achieved through alteration of the constitutive relationships to permit softening behavior of the concrete to begin much earlier in the loading history. Validation of the procedure was performed through comparison of analytically predicted stirrup strains with those from full-size laboratory specimens. Empirical data were found to correspond well with the predicted responses. The cracked section analysis procedure was then utilized to estimate the potential for low-cycle fatigue damage of an in-service bridge. A moment and shear interaction surface corresponding to stirrup yielding was estimated and compared with the load effects produced from a data set of over 14,000
permitted trucks to estimate the anticipated life of the bridge based on low-cycle fatigue
damage.

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dc.subject.lcsh

Bridges, Concrete -- Cracking

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dc.subject.lcsh

Reinforced concrete -- Cracking

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dc.title

Analysis of diagonally cracked conventionally reinforced concrete girders in the service load range